Although Baldur’s Gate 3 will likely get a sequel at some point in the future, any potential follow-up to one of the best RPGs in recent years has a major plot hole to figure out. The freedom of choice in BG3 might lead to its own downfall, as it creates a nebulous number of routes that can’t all be focused on at the same time.
A direct sequel isn’t quite as feasible with BG3, for a variety of reasons. The most explicit example is that BG3 developer, Larian Studios, has parted ways with D&D teams at Wizards of the Coast to work on another unrelated project. Without the same direction at the helm that made BG3 so successful, it’s hard to imagine what another game in the series would look like.
Baldur’s Gate 4 Can’t Work With Every BG3 Ending
Multiple Outcomes Lead To No Official Conclusion To Follow
There are a great many endings to BG3, each determined by the choices you make between you and your companions. Evil, good, and neutral endings are all possible, with a plethora of unique paths that are entirely reflective of an individual player’s decisions. While this provides tons of freedom, it would be extremely confusing for any sequel to follow.
With how grand of scale the ending to BG3 is for its impact on the Sword Coast and Forgotten Realms, Wizards of the Coast are likely reluctant to make any events or characters of the game canon to any D&D lore.
No ending is established as “canon” for any characters, from Astarion to the Dark Urge. Every origin character has multiple endings, but I’ve found that none of them are considered the “official” conclusion to any part of the story.
An imaginary Baldur’s Gate 4 that follows the story of BG3 would have to reconcile many different plot points with multiple outcomes. For example, did Shadowheart slay the Nightsong or spare it? Did Astarion become an Ascended Vampire or refuse the ritual? These questions would have to be answered if BG4 took place within memory of BG3‘s narrative.
Besides just the characters, any direct sequel would have to decide which ending steered the course of the Forgotten Realms’ future. At least one ending needs to be marked as canon to have any sequel continue the story, but this could alienate many fans. Even if BG4 chose a neutral ending as canon, it would take away the impact of other endings players chose to end their adventures.
A Baldur’s Gate 4 Time Skip Would Cause Its Own Problems
Another Era Needs Everything Built From Scratch
One possible solution for a potential BG4 is to have it take place far in the past or future from BG3‘s events. This way, the “canon” ending doesn’t matter as much, and only small references need to be made to the events of the game, if at all.
However, this causes its own problems, mainly by giving BG4‘s developers nothing to work with from the previous game’s well-developed story. Oftentimes, sequels depend on details from the past to work, as they can immediately rope in fans who were fans of the events that have already taken place. Players who want to see locations or characters from BG3 would be unable to connect with anything that made them fall in love with BG3 in the first place.
Baldur’s Gate 3‘s inclusion of past characters and events from Baldur’s Gate 2 and the original Baldur’s Gate made sense since both of those games had linear endings. While it was easy to put Minsc and Jaheira in BG3, it would be harder to put Astarion, Karlach, or Gale into BG4.
Making a whole new Forgotten Realms or Sword Coast world in the past or future would be a lot of work for Baldur’s Gate 4. Any distanced story requires a lot of extra effort, especially if it still has to follow the events of BG3. Any setting in the future would be dependent on an established BG3 ending, but Wizards of the Coast is unlikely to let a game’s event shape a core D&D location’s history.
The Best BG3 Follow-Ups Wouldn’t Be BG4
An Indirect Story Might Be The Only Option
Unfortunately, one of the only ways I think you can avoid the sloppy canon of BG3 is to avoid its narrative entirely in a sequel. Having a prequel or a title set far apart from the Sword Coast might be a good direction, but doing so makes any Baldur’s Gate 4 likely far away from the city the series is named after.
Indirect connections might rob a future Baldur’s Gate game of its identity, but it does open the door for many new things. A great BG4 title might take place in another established Dungeons and Dragons setting, such as Neverwinter, the island of Chult, or even locations from past editions of the TTRPG, like Greyhawk or Dragonlance.
It could be disappointing to abandon all the story and characters that made BG3 so great, but the flexibility of that game’s story might be better if it remained singular. In order to make Baldur’s Gate 4 another fantastic entry in the RPG series, it may have to disconnect itself with Baldur’s Gate 3 as a whole to create something new.
Baldur’s Gate 3
- Released
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August 3, 2023
- ESRB
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M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence
- Developer(s)
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Larian Studios
- Publisher(s)
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Larian Studios
- Engine
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Divinity 4.0
- Multiplayer
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Online Co-Op, Local Co-Op
- Cross-Platform Play
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Full cross-platform play.
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
